James Ramage

The scheduled approach of Hurricane Sandy has cast a shadow over the municipal bond calendar for the week. At press time, many municipal bond issuers scheduled to price deals on Tuesday said they would go through with Tuesday's scheduled deals.

Investors poured $666 million into weekly reporting municipal bond mutual funds this past week, marking a 28th straight week of inflows.

Neither primary volume nor moderately volatile Treasuries did much to upset the municipal market's steady mien this week. Despite the modest backup in most rates among munis and Treasuries on the week, muni bond indexes held their levels.

Weaker Treasuries and restrained activity produced a balanced, yet unspectacular, session for munis Thursday.

A weaker secondary and rising Treasuries have pushed tax-exempt yields higher Thursday.

The secondary took the reins of the municipal market Thursday morning and has steered it to weaker territory.

New supply drove activity in the municipal market Wednesday, but failed to push yields noticeably.

The municipal market continues to project a positive tone as investors flush with cash respond well to new issuance.

The municipal market got a small jolt Tuesday afternoon that has followed over into Wednesday morning, lending to a firmer tone.

The municipal market firmed up Tuesday as investors accelerated two of the week’s larger negotiated deals and priced aggressively its largest competitive offering.

The municipal market has begun to firm up Tuesday as investors cotton to the week's new deals.

Lacking powerful drivers, a range-bound municipal market continues to focus on the coming supply, leaving the secondary market in a sleepy state.

Thin support for deals near the end of last week rolled over into Monday’s session. This factor, combined with a small build-up in the secondary and a generally weak bond market, gave way to a weary municipal market marked by relative inactivity.

Light issuance and the small amount of activity in the secondary market so far Monday have muddied traders' assessments of the municipal market heading into the afternoon.

The municipal market opened the week with an eye toward the coming primary market calendar.

The municipal market can expect another middling week of new issuance. Estimates hold that anticipated volume for the week should reach $7.64 billion.

The municipal market treaded water Friday, stifled by an otherwise underwhelming amount of activity in the secondary.

The municipal market is so far holding its own Friday. Tax-exempt yields have mostly danced in place, while Treasury yields have backtracked. Activity in the secondary has also picked up on the bid side as the day's trading session crossed into the afternoon.

Municipal bond mutual funds saw inflows for the 27th consecutive week. Funds that report their flows weekly recorded inflows of $621 million for the week ended Oct. 17.

Light activity and a slight weakening of yields at the five-year mark characterized the municipal bond market Friday morning.